How next season's group stage is shaping up

Most European leagues are at the halfway stage, with frontrunners established and winter champions crowned, so how is the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League shaping up? There are a few caveats, but if the leagues ended right now who would be in the group stage?

There are the usual suspects, the likes of Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, Real Madrid, Arsenal, Bayern München, Benfica and Paris Saint-Germain. Internazionale Milano and Beşiktaş are on course to end absences of four and six seasons respectively, while Hertha Berlin have sights on their second UEFA Champions League campaign some 17 years after the first.

Then there are Leicester City. The shock Premier League leaders at Christmas have never before graced European football's elite club tournament. Indeed, the Foxes have amassed only eight fixtures in UEFA competition over the years: they were knocked out in the UEFA Cup first round in 2000 and 1997 and reached the second stage of the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1961.

And who is missing? Nearly half of this season's round of 16 lineup, for starters.

The access list is subject to final confirmation from UEFA.

Group stage – as it stands
ESP: Atlético Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid
ENG: Arsenal, Leicester City, Manchester City
GER: Bayern München, Borussia Dortmund, Hertha Berlin
ITA: Internazionale Milano, Fiorentina
POR: Sporting CP, Benfica
FRA: Paris Saint-Germain, Monaco
RUS: CSKA Moskva
UKR: Shakhtar Donetsk or Dynamo Kyiv*
NED: Ajax
BEL: Gent
SUI: Basel
TUR: Beşiktaş

*Teams currently level on points. If it was like that at the end of the season there would be a one-off meeting to decide the Ukrainian champions.

Play-offs – as it stands
Villarreal (ESP), Tottenham Hotspur (ENG), Borussia Mönchengladbach (GER), Napoli (ITA), Porto (POR)

UEFA Champions League/UEFA Europa League holders
The UEFA Champions League holders are also assured of a place in the group stage.

The UEFA Europa League holders enter the UEFA Champions League play-offs unless the 2015/16 UEFA Champions League winners finish their domestic campaign in a league position which means they would have qualified for the group stage via that method. If that happens, a group stage vacancy is created for the UEFA Europa League winners.